As every teacher knows, good classroom management can make the difference between a great class experience and a poor one. While technology doesn’t replace the need for a solid approach to classroom management, tech tools, including these, can certainly help.

It’s never too early to encourage reading. Richard Byrne shares his picks for tools that young readers and writers can use with or without an adult. Includes screencasts demoing three applications: Building Language for Literacy, Reading Bear, and Maily, an iOS app for letter writing.

With spring in the air, students typically clamor to get outside—and teachers would often like to follow. April is an ideal time of year to explore outdoor learning opportunities, and these apps and sites can lead the way.

Here are some practical applications of how teachers and librarians can use Google’s Maps and Street View to create lesson plans and assignments on virtual tours of the streets of Paris, or map out some Civil War battles.

Video, audio, and images can help students gain deeper understanding of a question. Previously, struggling readers might have had assessment questions read aloud to him or her. Now, multimedia tools allow these students to take tests independently.

There’s nothing like a book recommendation from a friend. Encourage students to share their opinions by creating a student-driven book review site. Richard Byrne shows you how in the accompanying screencasts.

With accessible tools, you and your students can create your own simple animations to convey powerful ideas. Screencast tutorials will have you up and running with the latest “Cool Tools” from Richard Byrne, SLJ columnist and blogger at “Free Technology for Teachers.”